"Doctor Mirabilis," 13th-century English philosopher considered by some to be the world's first scientist - crossword puzzle clues & answers - Dan Word «Let me solve it for you» "Doctor Mirabilis," 13th-century English philosopher considered by some to be the world's first scientist Today's crossword puzzle clue is a quick one: "Doctor Mirabilis," 13th-century English philosopher considered by some to be the world's first scientist. We will try to find the right answer to this particular crossword clue. Here are the possible solutions for ""Doctor Mirabilis," 13th-century English philosopher considered by some to be the world's first scientist" clue. It was last seen in The Washington Post quick crossword. We have 1 possible answer in our database. Possible answer: Roger Bacon > By Individual Philosopher > Philosophy Roger Bacon Introduction Roger Bacon (AKA Doctor Mirabilis, meaning "wonderful teacher") (1214 - 1294) was a 13th Century English philosopher, scientist and Franciscan friar of the Medieval period, and certainly one of the most eminent scholars of the times.

Inspired by the works of early Muslim scientists like Avicenna and Averro�s , he is sometimes credited as one of the earliest European advocates of Empiricism and the modern scientific method (although later studies have emphasized his reliance on occult and alchemical traditions). He decried the prevailing Scholastic system, based as it was solely on tradition and prescribed authorities. Life Roger Bacon was born in Ilchester in Somerset, England, possibly in about 1220, but more likely in 1214 (the date depends on how literally a later statement of Bacon's is interpreted). His family appears to have been well-off, but, during the stormy reign of King Henry III of England, their property was despoiled and several members of the family were driven into exile. He studied at the Franciscan school at Oxford which, even in the 13th Century, was rapidly becoming one of the pre-eminent educational centres of Europe. Later, he became a Master at Oxford, lecturing on Aristotle , and he was greatly influenced by the Oxford masters and professors Robert Grosseteste, Adam Marsh, Richard Fitzacre and Edmund Rich and the French mathermatician and scientist Pierre de Maricourt.

There is no evidence he was ever awarded a doctorate (the title Doctor Mirabilis was posthumous and figurative). Some time between 1237 and 1245, he began to lecture at the University of Paris, then the undisputed center of intellectual life in Europe, where he was apparently received with applause as the equal of Aristotle , Avicenna or Averro�s . In about 1256 he became a Friar in the Franciscan Order, (his whereabouts beytween 1247 and 1256 are not clear), and as such no longer held a teaching post. Through his acquaintance with Cardinal Guy le Gros de Foulques (who became Pope Clement IV in 1265) he managed to circumvent the restrictions on Franciscan Friars from publishing books or pamphlets without specific approval. The new Pope even ordered Bacon to write to him concerning the place of philosophy within theology, and Bacon's response was his huge "Opus Majus" of 1267.

His friend and protector Pope Clement IV died in 1268 and, at some time between 1277 and 1279, Bacon was briefly placed under house arrest by Jerome of Ascoli, the Minister-General of the Franciscan Order. This was probably on the grounds of the Bishop of Paris' Condemnations of 1277, which banned the teaching of certain philosophical doctrines, including deterministic astrology and the works of Aristotle , but possibly also due to Bacon's continued dissemination of Arabic alchemy, and his protests against the ignorance and immorality of the clergy. Some time after 1278, Bacon returned to the Franciscan House at Oxford, where he continued his studies until his death in 1294. Bacon died without any important followers, was quickly forgotten, and remained so for a long time until his works were rediscovered and published in the 18th Century. Work Back to Top Bacon called for a radical reform of theological study, with less emphasis on the minor philosophical distinctions that Scholasticism pursued, and more of a return to the study of the scriptures and the classical philosophers in their original languages.

He urged theologians to study all sciences closely, and strongly championed experimental study over reliance on authority, and was an enthusiastic proponent and practitioner of the experimental method of acquiring knowledge about the world. Always direct and outspoken, he openly criticized his much-admired contemporaries Alexander of Hales (c. 1183 - 1245) and Albertus Magnus as mere preachers who had not fully studied the philosophy of Aristotle . Bacon was fluent in several languages (unlike most of his contemporaries) and lamented the corruption of the holy texts and the works of the Greek philosophers by numerous mistranslations and misinterpretations. He also argued that, under the the prevailing Scholastic system, physical science was not carried out by experiment, but by arguments based solely on tradition and prescribed authorities, rather than by the initial collection of facts before deducing scientific truths as Aristotle had taught. Bacon's most important work was the "Opus Majus" (Latin for "Greater Work"), written in Medieval Latin at the request of Pope Clement IV in 1267.

This was a huge, 840-page treatise in seven main sections, ranging over all aspects of natural science, from grammar and logic to mathematics, physics, and philosophy (and particularly his views on how the philosophy of Aristotle and the new science could be incorporated into a new theology). It contains detailed treatments of mathematics, optics, alchemy, the manufacture of gunpowder, astrology and the positions and sizes of the celestial bodies. It anticipates later inventions such as microscopes, telescopes, spectacles, flying machines, hydraulics and steam ships. However, it should be remembered that Bacon was also a Franciscan monk, and the work was also a plea for reform addressed to the Pope, and was designed to improve training for missionaries and to provide new skills to be employed in the defence of the Christian world against the enmity of non-Christians and of the Antichrist.

It was followed later the same year by a smaller second work, the "Opus Minus", which was intended as an abstract or summary of the longer work, and then by the "Opus Tertium", intended to complement the other two and expand on some sections which had only been covered cursorily (unfortunately, over half of this work has been lost). In addition, he had planned to publish a comprehensive encyclopedia, although only fragments ever appeared. Bacon is the ascribed author of the controversial alchemical manual "Speculum Alchemiae" (later translated into English as "The Mirror of Alchemy"), and possibly (although less likely) also the mysterious encrypted "Voynich Manuscript". Bacon performed and described various experiments which were, for a time, claimed as the first instances of true experimental science, some five hundred years before the real rise of science in the West, and his popular image is as an isolated figure in an age supposedly hostile toward scientific ideas.

However, this interpretation (of both Bacon's work and of the prevailing medieval attitudes to science) has been challenged more recently, and he has been portrayed more as a brilliant and combative (if somewhat eccentric) scholar, endeavouring to take advantage of the new learning which was just then becoming available, while still remaining true to traditional notions and attitudes, and not as isolated as had been supposed. Google+ Sponsor Message <a href="" target="_top"><img style="border:0px;" src="" alt="i" width="300" height="250"/></a> Everybody knows that the Scientific Revolution began in the 16th century, when Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo (plus some philosophical input from Francis Bacon) revived the long dormant Greek love for knowledge about nature. But in fact the seeds of that revolution had been planted three centuries earlier, when a handful of thinkers, most of them religious scholars, began contemplating rational explanations for worldly phenomena. My rankings of them are guaranteed to be at least as good as pretournament NCAA basketball polls. 10.

Adam Marsh (?-1259, aka Doctor Illustris) Very little is known about Marsh, a Franciscan friar who was a student of Robert Grosseteste at Oxford. But Marsh was apparently an accomplished mathematician and was highly regarded by Roger Bacon, who considered Marsh in the same intellectual category as Grosseteste. That was high praise from Bacon, who thought most of his scientific contemporaries were dolts. 9. Zakariya al-Qazwini (c. 1203-1283) Al-Qazwini was born in Persia. He studied in Damascus and later became a judge in what is now Iraq. His own insights were not especially groundbreaking, but he had vast knowledge of science and wrote major works on geography and the nature of the universe. As with most scientists of the era, al-Qazwini’s ideas were mixed in with religion, but he did believe that appreciating the spiritual wonder in the world required scientific knowledge about nature. That’s enough to get him into the Top 10, as there aren’t all that many candidates. 8.

Henrik Harpestræng (?-1244) Reputed to be the physician for King Erik Plovpenning of Denmark, Harpestræng wrote treatises on the medical use of herbs and other drugs and was a major figure in bringing “modern” medicine to Scandinavian countries. Roskilde, the capital of Denmark in those days, became an important center for studying medicine thanks to Harpestræng’s influence. 7. Peter Nightingale (aka Peter Philomena of Dacia, Petrus Danus) His birth and death dates are unknown, but Nightingale was active in the last decade of the 13th century as a mathematician and astronomer. Originally from Denmark, he taught in Bologna and spent time in Paris before returning to Denmark. He wrote an important commentary on arithmetic, proposed a new way of calculating cube roots, and authored many important astronomical tables, some especially valuable for calendrical purposes. He also constructed novel astronomical instruments for computing the positions of the planets. 6. Witelo of Silesia (d.

after 1275) A Polish natural philosopher, Witelo apparently wrote several treatises on various earth, space and biological sciences, but most of them have not survived. A major work on optics, though, is enough to establish him as one of the century’s top thinkers. He surveyed the geometry of light rays, the nature of color and explored the physiology of vision and the nature of perceptual illusions. Witelo seems to have been influenced by Grosseteste and Bacon; in turn Witelo’s work influenced many later scientists, including Descartes and Galileo. 5. Leonardo Fibonacci (c. 1170-after 1240, aka Leonardo of Pisa) Western Europe’s first big-name mathematician, Leonardo learned math as an accountant for his father’s business. That job took him traveling to places like Syria and Egypt, in the course of which he found out about Arabic numerals, which he introduced to Europe to make every accountant’s life easier. He is also famous for the series of numbers named for him in which each number is the sum of the preceding two.

So if a test asks you what number comes next in the series 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 … a good guess would be 21. 4. Peter Peregrinus (aka Pierre de Maricourt) Dates for birth and death unknown, but his most famous work, a treatise on magnetism, was completed in 1269. He might have been an engineer who served in the army of the King of Sicily during a campaign against the city of Lucera in Italy. Peter’s work provided the first comprehensive account of all the scientific aspects of magnetism. He particularly emphasized the physics of magnetic polarity and suggested improvements in magnetic compasses. His treatise was instrumental in the modern science of magnetism initiated by William Gilbert more than three centuries later. 3. Saint Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280, aka Albert the Great, Doctor Universalis) Very few scientists achieve sainthood or get nicknamed “the great,” but Albert was exceptional. Born in Bavaria, he studied in Italy where he learned all about Aristotle before becoming a Dominican preacher. He later taught in Germany before studying theology in Paris.

Albert wrote on all aspects of science and played a major role in bringing Aristotelian science to western Europe through elaborate commentaries on Aristotle’s works. On matters that Aristotle hadn’t treated, Albert filled in the gap. Albert was a master of the entire spectrum of scientific knowledge; he emphasized that the scientific understanding of reality was compatible with religion and theology. His most famous student was Saint Thomas Aquinas. Albert himself was awarded sainthood in 1931. In 1941 Pope Pius XII designated him the patron saint for scientific researchers. One notable contemporary was not so impressed with Albert, though. Roger Bacon wrote that Albert’s useful writings could have been summed up in a 20th of his works’ actual length. 2. Roger Bacon (c. 1214-1292, aka Doctor Mirabilis) Some consider Bacon the first modern scientist. Some older sources say he was a student of Grosseteste’s at Oxford, but there may not be solid evidence for that. In any case, Bacon was certainly influenced by Grosseteste, whose work he admired. Later Bacon studied at Paris, perhaps under Peter Peregrinus.

Bacon was a shrill advocate for experiment; he was an independent thinker, disdainful of authority and did not suffer fools well, all excellent qualities for a good scientist. Bacon became a Franciscan friar, though, and the Franciscans kept him quiet. He nevertheless wrote on all areas of science and made remarkably prescient forecasts of future developments, even envisioning machines for traveling on land or water, submarines and air travel. 1. Robert Grosseteste (c. 1170-1253) An intellectual giant, no matter that his last name translates as “fathead.” He both recognized the importance of Aristotle but also insisted that experiments, not Aristotle’s writings, settled questions about nature. Grosseteste was an expert on every area of knowledge , and he established the scientific spirit in the minds of many medieval scholars. His treatises and philosophy influenced and inspired all the great thinkers that followed him in the 13th century, including Bacon and Albertus Magnus. Grosseteste emphasized the importance of mathematics and applied it in detail to optics and other realms of natural science.

Most of all, he emphasized that reason was not incompatible with religious faith, and that finding the rational explanations for the entirety of natural phenomena was a noble undertaking. “Truly Grosseteste was one of the great encyclopedic thinkers of the world,” his biographer Francis Seymour Stevenson wrote in the 19th century. “In the domain of intellectual activity Grosseteste must … be regarded as the founder and inspirer of … the encyclopedic school of the thirteenth century, imparting to it a unity of purpose and a loftiness of conception to which those who followed him hardly ever attained.” Follow me on Twitter: @tom_siegfried Doctor Mirabilis | novel by Blish | Britannica.com novel by Blish THIS IS A DIRECTORY PAGE. Britannica does not currently have an article on this topic. Learn about this topic in these articles: in James Blish ...(1920), “After such knowledge, what forgiveness?”—that examined the competition between religion and science.

The other novels in the series included Doctor Mirabilis (1964), a historical novel about the 13th-century English philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon, and two novels that Blish considered as one work: Black Easter; or,... Roger Bacon Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Intellectuals & Academics Roger Bacon Biography Roger Bacon was a 13th century English philosopher. This biography of Roger Bacon provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline Quick Facts Arrogant, Confident, Courageous, Creative, Outspoken, Visionary Character Traits Detail-Oriented, Independent, Intelligent, Logical, Organized, Rational Challenges Faced Magnifying Glass Roger Bacon, OFM was a 13th century English philosopher and Franciscan Friar who was posthumously awarded the scholastic accolade âDoctor Mirabilisâ meaning âWonderful Teacherâ. Not much is known about him or his family with certainty, but it is believed that they were wealthy and were exiled in the times of King Henry III of England. He received his education at Oxford and soon began teaching there.

He was a disciple of the famous scholastic philosopher and theologian, Robert Grosseteste. At Oxford and at the University of Paris where he later taught, he talked about the importance of modern scientific methods introduced by Aristotle. Drawing inspiration from Aristotle and the Muslim scientist Alhazen he invested a lot of money in gathering secret books, conducting experiments and learning other languages. He became a Friar in the Franciscan Order, but his relationship with the other members was strained and his beliefs led to disagreements and finally imprisonment/house arrest. Contrary to the view that he was a modern thinker, scholars now think of him as a brilliant schoolman, who at the right time understood the advantages of the new learning and the importance of philosophy. He is also accredited for inventing gunpowder and reforming the calendar, while predicting submarines, automobiles and aircrafts. Childhood & Early Life Roger Bacon was born in Ilchester in Somerset. His exact year of birth has always been a topic for controversy and historians state it as 1213 or 1214, going by his statement in the book âOpus Tertiumâ, written in 1267.

The only information known about his family today is that they were considerably wealthy but during the reign of Henry III of England most of them were exiled and their property was annexed. His earliest education was in geometry, arithmetic, music, astronomy and the classics. For further education he went to the Oxford University and developed an interest in natural philosophy and mathematics. It is believed that he did his M.A. either at Oxford or at Paris, in 1240. Career Roger Bacon became a master at Oxford. He gave lectures in the faculty of arts and they were mainly about Aristotelian and pseudo-Aristotelian treatises. His next appointment was at the Paris University and he joined it somewhere between 1237 and 1245. Here he talked about Aristotelian Corpus (Compilation of Aristotleâs work) which included physics, meta-physics and the pseudo-Aristotelian De Vegetabilibus and the De Causis. In 1247, he was inspired by the great scholar Robert Grosseteste and he began investing his time and money in acquiring secret books, training assistants, meeting savants and constructing instruments. He ardently researched optics, alchemy, astronomy and linguistics.

With some certainty it can be stated that he became a friar in the Franciscan Order in 1256 and in 1260, Master General Bonaventure issued a decree that prohibited friars from publishing books without the Orderâs prior approval. Bonaventure and Bacon remained much at odds due to their individual beliefs. Bonaventure believed that astrology was helpful in only predicting the things solely dependent on movement of heavenly bodies and that base metals couldnât be converted into gold/silver; Bacon differed on both accounts. In order to bypass the Orderâs decree he contacted Cardinal Guy le Gros de Foulques, who became Pope Clement IV in 1265. The Pope issued a papal mandate asking Bacon for his philosophical writings and his view on the possibility of philosophy in theology. In reply Roger Bacon sent his âOpus Majusâ, âOpus Minusâ and âDe Multiplicatione Specierumâ. In his books he mentioned how science and Aristotleâs philosophy could be applied in establishing a new way of learning, which would also bring about the welfare of the Church.

His luck ran out when the Pope passed away in 1268 and left no official review or opinion on his works. His next writings were âCommunnia Naturaliumâ, âCommunia Mathematicaâ and âCompendium Studii Philosophieâ. The Order put him under house arrest sometime between 1277 and 1279 on the accounts of his beliefs in alchemy and the general disregard for other innovators. He believed that humans were incapable of educational reform until they got rid of frail and unsuitable authority, eradicated long customs, stopped supporting uninstructed popular opinions and concealed their ignorance by displaying apparent wisdom. His book âEpistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae, et de Nullitate Magiaeâ (Letter on the Secret Working of Art and Nature, and on the Vanity of Magic) disregarded magical practices and had the formula for the philosopherâs stone and possibly gunpowder. He was a detractor of the Julian calendar and proposed that one day should be dropped every 125 years to make up for the error.

He believed that due to the errors in the present calendar Christians were celebrating Easter on the wrong day. Major Works Roger Bacon is accepted as one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific methods in which results are cited only after experimentation and not solely on the basis of the findings of predecessors. He used parts of glass spheres as magnifying glasses to demonstrate that light reflects from objects rather than being released from them and for the first time introduced a mixture which could be used in making gunpowder. Personal Life & Legacy Roger Bacon passed away in 1292. Many books have been written about him including âDoctor Mirabilisâ, âThe Face in the Frostâ, âFifth Businessâ and âThe Black Roseâ. Translate this page to Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese Pictures of Roger Bacon BBC - History - Roger Bacon z Roger Bacon, c.1751 © Bacon was an English Franciscan friar, philosopher, scientist and scholar of the 13th century. Roger Bacon's date and place of birth are unknown, but he is thought to have come from a relatively wealthy family. He studied and later taught at Oxford University and also taught the University of Paris.

Bacon has a wide range of interests. He investigated optics and the refraction of light through lenses, leading to the development of spectacles. He sought reform of the calendar and was interested in astronomy. In 1266, at the request of Pope Clement IV, he collected many of his observations in his 'Opus Maius', an encyclopaedia of all science. Bacon had a reputation as an unconventional scholar, pursuing learning in alchemy and magic - interests which earned him the soubriquet 'Doctor Mirabilis'. This led to his rejection from the Franciscans and eventual imprisonment. He died in Oxford not long after his release. Doctor Mirabilis - crossword puzzle clue Help Clue: Doctor Mirabilis Doctor Mirabilis is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 1 time. There are related clues (shown below). Referring crossword puzzle answers Likely related crossword puzzle clues Sort A-Z History of the Philosophy of Science 7.2Junk Science . Until the 18th and 19th centuries, there was no real distinction between scientist and philosopher, and many of the great scientist-philosophers of antiquity were also theologians.

Science gave philosophy a way of empirically testing theories and concepts, whilst philosophy has helped to develop the scientific method used today. Philosophy also dictates what areas science can and cannot test, delineating the boundary between physical and metaphysical questions. These boundaries and the rules governing research have developed over the centuries, and philosophy and science are intertwined. The history of the philosophy of science shows the development of the underlying methodology and foundations of the scientific process , and shaped science, as we know it today. Science could not exist without philosophy, and even the experiments underway in the Large Hadron Collider owe homage to Aristotle, Bacon and Kuhn. . Beginnings - Aristotle's Empiricism vs Plato's Forms The history of the philosophy of science, certainly in the Western world, begins with the philosophers of Ancient Greece. Whilst many other philosophers contributed to the very beginning of the scientific process, the genesis of science began with the contrast between Platonism and Aristotleism. Plato (428/427 BC[ a ] - 348/347 BC) had the archetypal Greek belief, that humanity was born with an innate knowledge of everything, and that learning was a process of unlocking the memories.

His argument was that everything had a perfect potential abstract form, and that any knowledge gained through observation and experiment was filtered by the senses. Empirical knowledge , according to Plato, was mere opinion. Therefore, he reasoned, that pure knowledge could be advanced by deduction alone. Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE), by contrast, believed that Plato had everything the wrong way around, and that knowledge could only be gained by comparing it with what was already known and perceived. For example, Plato's famous idealized Republic required a perfect Philosopher King to rule it, with wisdom and benevolence. He argued that because such a perfect human being could exist, therefore such a king would be possible to find. Aristotle countered this concept by stating that because he had never seen or heard of such a human in recorded history, then it was an impossible concept. He believed that inductive reasoning was required to establish some basic premises before scientific demonstrations. Between the two schools of thought, the idea of deductive reasoning emerged, which has remained a cornerstone of the scientific method. This idea remained a common theme throughout the history of the philosophy of science .

Aristotle used the term 'first principles' to illustrate his belief that gathering knowledge was a process of gaining experience, building upon what is already known to be true. Even in the modern world, each scientific field has its own unique first principles upon which research is built, postulates that cannot be deduced and act as a foundation. Aristotle still used deduction for building up his view of the universe, believing that every phenomenon could be explained through reason, as long as the first principles were sound. The split is why Aristotle is referred to as the Father of Science and Plato as the Father of Philosophy, with Aristotle credited as the initiator of the scientific method . Throughout the history of the philosophy of science has, science has built slowly knowledge upon what is already known, measuring phenomena and trying to uncover the rules governing them. In this way, humanity undergoes a gradual accumulation of knowledge. Aristotle believed in observational science , and performed many measurements and observations, including describing the hydrological cycle and undertaking taxonomic work, separating many animals into families according to shared characteristics. This is not to say that Plato has no place in science; for example, physicists generating beautiful and elegant mathematical theories to explain the cosmos are far closer to Plato than Aristotle.

They generate theories and empirical scientists follow behind, attempting to prove or disprove them. . . Beyond the Greeks The Romans were the next to take the burgeoning science, developing the scientific method of the Greeks. The Romans, as their architecture and engineering shows, were far more interested in the empirical applied side of science, using mathematics and practical knowledge to create some great technological advances. They did not, however, have too much of a contribution to the philosophical side, simply building upon the methods used by Aristotle and Ptolemy. Their contribution to practical science was immense, but they had a minimal effect upon the history of the philosophy of science, leaving the field largely devoid of momentum for hundreds of years. The Islamic Contribution to the History of the Philosophy of Science The Islamic world took up the baton and preserved the philosophical knowledge of the Ancient Greek philosophers, adding to it techniques and philosophies learned from the Vedics in India. Whilst there were many Islamic scholars generating and developing ideas, there were a few whose names became enshrined within the history of the philosophy of science.

The great scientist and polymath, Ibn-Sina (980 - 1037), also known as Avicenna, built upon the scientific processes postulated by Aristotle, but was one of the first philosophers to bring the metaphysical issue of God into the picture. He believed that general and universal questions were the first stage, and experiments uncovered the truth . Ibn al-Haytham is commonly regarded as the first scholar to define the modern scientific method, laying down the steps of the scientific process and attempting to unite the induction of predictions and generalizations with the deduction of experiments. He also pointed out that scientists should not regard themselves as infallible , and that they should be open to criticism. The other great contributor to the history of the philosophy of science during the Islamic Golden Age was Al-Biruni, who was the first philosopher to understand the importance of errors within scientific experimentation. He understood that any experiment would contain small and random fluctuations, and that repeated experimentation was the only way to neutralize these inaccuracies.

The Renaissance As the Islamic 'Houses of Learning' became less influential, and the Muslim stronghold of Al-Andalus, in Spain, declined, much of this knowledge was taken to Europe, where it formed the basis of the first Renaissance. Here, during a time of great philosophical and theological discovery, the collaboration of science and religion continued, in an attempt to understand the nature of reality. Roger Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, in the 13th century, further refined the scientific method, but the history of the philosophy of science began to take shape with the meticulous and innovative work of Francis Bacon. Francis Bacon In 1620, the great philosopher Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) made great leaps in determining the course of modern science by making a great leap in the process of scientific reasoning and method . He believed that Aristotle's work, whilst broadly true, needed to be adapted to fit the reality of science, and he set out a new philosophy and scientific method to address the issues. His main criticism of Aristotle was that deduction from first principles was impossible in reality - the Greeks had a belief in the perfection of the cosmos, and so deduction could find answers to fit their view of the universe.

In the many centuries since, the view of the world had changed, and Bacon believed that the universe was much too complicated to explain by deduction alone. He redesigned the scientific method to utilize a largely induction based philosophy, where a series of observations could be applied to the universe as a whole. Bacon was the first philosopher in the history of the philosophy of science to realize that pure Aristotelian methods taught scientists nothing about the universe, finding answers for observed phenomena, but lacking the great leaps made by Platonist thought. He realized that whilst deduction allowed the application of a general rule to a particular and specific circumstance, induction was needed to allow observations of small or specific circumstances to a larger population, or the wider universe. Cleverly, he also stated that induction did need to be used with caution, and that to try to explain the universe by inductive reasoning alone was inherently dangerous. Francis Bacon believed that pure empiricists gathered important information, but had little idea how to use their knowledge or advance science. There was no goal or ultimate aim to the patient gathering of data.

Rationalists, on the other hand, made great leaps and generated ideas but, without careful measurement, there was no method for determining which were correct, or how accurate any theory was. This process is still apparent in modern science. Theoretical physicists like Einstein, Hawking and Feynman generate beautiful mathematical formulas and models to explain the unknown areas of quantum physics and cosmology. However, they understand that actual experimental and empirical evidence always takes precedence, potentially leading to the adjustment or abandonment of one of these theories, if proved incorrect. The other major addition to the scientific method made by Bacon, possibly his biggest contribution to the history of the philosophy of science, was the idea of experimental science , the basis of induction. He believed research could be used to test the validity of real world observations, with inductive postulations made to generalize the findings to the population as a whole. He also developed the practice that he called the Instance of the Fingerpost,' where he proposed that an experiment should be designed around two discrete hypotheses ; the researcher should aim to find in favor of one and refute the other. Whilst there was no split between science and philosophy during this Early Modern period, Bacon laid the foundation stone for the divergence of the two disciplines.

As a side effect, his work also planted the seed of the first divisions between science and theology, a shift in the focus of the history of the philosophy of science. Previously, science was very much seen as attempting to explain the perfection of creation, with God as the initial first principle, but science began to shift towards different principles. Descartes (1596 - 1650) famously attempted to explain the cosmos and epistemology by deduction from Aristotelian first principles, based around the divine, but, at the end of his life, even he realized that the cosmos was simply too complex to be derived from first principles alone. The Galilean Contribution to the History of the Philosophy of Science Galileo (1564 - 1642), whilst most famous as a scientist, was also a highly respected philosopher. He took the Baconian views of science to another level, further emphasizing the need for both empiricism and rationalist thinking. Whilst he was a great proponent of carefully designed experiments, he believed that, in physics especially, mathematics and geometry were essential to idealize concepts. This was the first example of using modeling as a foundation of the scientific method.

Deduction, as shown by Bacon and later admitted by Descartes, could not explain the complexities of the universe, and so a simplified and idealized model would give the scientist another tool of discovery. Empiricists argued that his idealized concepts could not be adapted to the real universe, but the idea of mixing mathematical theory with empirical 'proof' was set. The Definition of Science The 18th century history of the philosophy of science began to see the first real development in a specific scientific method that would distinguish it from non-sciences. It is difficult, even now, to give a definition of science , and it is perhaps more fruitful to define what it is not, a process started by the philosopher Christian Huygens (1629 - 1695). He argued that science and mathematics were actually different fields, and could not be treated the same way. The distinction he made between the two was the idea of proof. He stated that mathematics and geometry could prove something beyond doubt, whereas science can never prove something emphatically; merely give a probability that a certain finding is true.

Huygens was the first proponent of the hypothetico-deductive method , where a scientist proposes a hypothesis and then tries to deduce the probability that it is correct, through observational and empirical observation. This built upon the work of Bacon, but also developed the idea that scientists could approach the truth by constantly refining experiments and increasing the probability of their hypothesis being correct. This period saw the first divergence of the history of the philosophy of science from metaphysical philosophy. At this time, Newton also entered the fray, initially possessing a divergent view from Huygens, possibly because of his differing viewpoint as a mathematician. He did not advocate hypotheses, believing that any research using a hypothesis could not be scientific . Newton argued that any scientific undertaking should begin with analysis, where a scholar performed observations and experiments and then made conclusions depending upon he results . His viewpoint was christened synthesis, where these inductive conclusions should be applied to the universe as a whole, to build up a model of the universe. Newton was also an example of a scientist/philosopher who believed that the almighty was behind every process in the universe, and that it was too complex to be explained by physics alone. He saw his works as uncovering the laws of the universe behind creation.

Huygens and Newton did both agree that science could not give definite answers, only a probability that something was correct, because humanity could not possibly understand or comprehend the complexities lying behind the universe. The other main contributor of this period, to the history of the philosophy of science, was David Hume (1711-1776), who first highlighted the problem of induction, in that any inductively derived 'proof' could be undone by a single contrary observation. This idea was elaborated upon by the Twentieth century philosopher Hempel, in his Raven Paradox . The History of the Philosophy of Science in the Nineteenth Century During the nineteenth century, the history of the philosophy of science took on a form recognizable to modern science, and the debate took a new turn. Philosophers were now satisfied that science needed to be largely empirical, albeit with a deductive aspect for generating new ideas and theories. The debate now addressed the link between science and theology , with the growing schism started during the Galileo debate beginning to widen. The Catholic Church felt that science was undermining the teachings of religious scripture, and philosophers began to address this issue.

John Herschel (1792 - 1871) published a groundbreaking book, A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, in 1830, which addressed this very issue, and attempted to breach the growing divide, possibly realizing the damage that this widening rift could cause. Herschel argued that science was not questioning religious beliefs, such as the existence of God or the immortality of the soul. He stated that rather than attempting to doubt the existence of God, science should be used as a tool to undermine the burgeoning trend of atheism. Herschel's other contribution to the history of the philosophy of science was his refinement of the structure of the scientific process, building upon the earlier work of Bacon and Huygens. Herschel believed that science should use inductive processes to arrive at laws, in tandem with forming a hypothesis and attempting to test it through rigorous and repeated experimentation. Comparing the results with known facts strengthened the foundations of the hypothetico deductive method . He also made the first attempt to address the fact that it was becoming increasingly difficult to speak of science as a united body, with science starting to separate into many different fields and disciplines.

For some areas, such as physics, it was possible to combine induction and the hypothetico-deductive methods, but for many types of experimentation, this was not always possible. The next great contributor of this period to the history of the philosophy of science is Whewell (1794 - 1866), a philosopher who attempted to update the philosophy of Bacon. Importantly, he believed that scientific philosophers needed to not only try to develop philosophical ideas, but that they should look back at how science had developed. He postulated that philosophers needed to take a historical view, looking at the processes that scientists already used rather than merely attempting to tell them what they should do. With the increasing preponderance of scientists who were not necessarily philosophers, this became an increasingly important development in modern science. Whewell believed that the inductive processes could lead to absolute proof and that science could generate unbreakable truth. Whilst this view is not used by modern scientists, who understand that scientists can only work with probabilities, it is important to remember that most of these philosophers and scientists believed firmly in God.

The history of the philosophy of science shows that most philosophers also believed in God, and that the laws of the universe had some perfection that empiricism and rationalism could uncover. The British philosopher, John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873), vehemently disagreed with Whewell, believing that science could not use induction to arrive at absolute truth . He stipulated that however many times a hypothesis was found to be proved by the empirical evidence, this could not guarantee that this would always be the case and so science could only ever be possibility, as believed by Herschel and Newton. The other great contribution to the history of the philosophy of science made by Mill is the Laws of Agreement, also known as Mill's Methods, used to determine a causal effect in any relationship, by a process of elimination. The Victorian Age and the Twentieth Century This period of the history of the philosophy of science is where the subject became almost completely disentangled from theology. Napoleon's secular ideals caused a separation and, instead of trying to reconcile science with religion , philosophers concentrated upon refining the basic underlying tenets of science. Victorian philosophers attempted to discern what constitutes science, and set down the protocols of the scientific method .

Science, inspired by Darwin and J.J. Thomson began to unveil new discoveries at a breakneck pace, burgeoned by the second industrial revolution. This period also saw the first real division between the philosophies governing the various fields of science. For example, physicists required a completely different approach to naturalists. Pierre Duhem, 1861-1916, was the first philosopher to divide physics from the other fields, arguing that it was a very different beast from the other sciences. Physics, more than any other field, relies heavily upon theory and maths, and so needs different structures than the previously accepted Baconian and Newtonian view of things. He advocated holism, believing that the universe cannot be divided into discrete and individual hypotheses, because it is interlinked and intertwined, needing this united view. His contribution to the history of the philosophy of science was mainly in the field of physics, but his ideas had some wider appeal. Duhem was a devout Catholic, and attempted to make a distinction between science and religion , arguing that the two fields could not answer the same questions. He strongly believed that physics was only able to systematically uncover structures and processes, without questioning the very nature of reality.

Metaphysical questions were only answerable by metaphysics and theology. He did stipulate, however, that a good theologian should understand the physical aspects to be able to enquire into the metaphysical structure of the universe. This statement was a clear attempt to show the church that science was essential and did not harm Christianity. He also produced histories documenting his firm belief that the Church had been the driving force behind science. The great scientist, philosopher and mathematician, Poincare (1854-1912), began the twentieth century history of the philosophy of science. He questioned the very nature of scientific hypotheses , arguing that there were many different types. Poincare also brought the idea of 'convention' to the history of the philosophy of science, believing that scientists often used the most convenient methods to describe the universe. He used the example of geometry, where Euclidian geometry was used to describe space, even though it was not the only correct method. Poincare also argued that there were many types of hypothesis, some fulfilling the scientific ideal of empiricism, testing and generalization , whereas others were incorporated into the building blocks of scientific theory and were always the last to be abandoned.

His famous 'indifferent hypotheses' possessed an auxiliary role in building theories, but were not vastly important. He used the example of the hypothesis that unseen atoms exist. Whilst each discipline had its own burgeoning underlying philosophy, there was still a consensus upon the basic structures and forms defining the entire nature of science, whilst laying out protocols for the scientific method. Karl Popper One of the biggest names in the history of the philosophy of science, Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) tried to delineate the boundary between science and non-science , arguing that metaphysics was non-observational, and therefore could not be science. He championed the idea of falsification , where a hypothesis must be potentially disprovable for it to be regarded as scientific. He believed that theological, epistemological and metaphysical questions were not falsifiable, and therefore not scientific. Popper firmly believed that such concepts should not be given credence by science. One of the major problems with Popper's analysis is that he tries to impose a strict boundary upon a grey and fuzzy delineation. Many fields, such as social science, anthropology and even psychology are not sciences according to his strict definition.

These fields rely upon case studies, which, by definition, are non-falsifiable. Popper believed that how the hypothesis was derived was an unimportant part of the scientific method . He believed that the only important issue was that the hypothesis was testable and falsifiable . He felt that instead of attempting to prove theories, scientists should instead try to falsify them, a belief still held by many scientists and fields. The idea of falsifiability earned Popper a place amongst the great philosophers apparent throughout the history of the philosophy of science. The main criticism of Popper's idea was that he did not actually look at the reality of how scientists worked, and that the actual scientific processes did concentrate upon obtaining proof rather than rejection. Scientists rarely abandon their theory if it is falsified, usually clinging to it and modifying it. One of Popper's students, Lakatos, attempted to resurrect the idea by stratifying the idea. He postulated that there was a 'hardcore' scientific theory that was taken as given, and needed no falsification. A hierarchy of strata provided a layer of protection to the central theory - these hypotheses could fail and be rejected, but not the hardcore itself.

Only when the entire research program shuddered to a halt and it failed to corroborate predictions would the hardcore be abandoned, in a similar way to Kuhn's idea of paradigms and paradigm shifts . Hempel Hempel (1905 - 1997) was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century history of the philosophy of science, known especially for his criticism of the inductive method , known as the Raven Paradox . He built upon the work of Hume, and realized that any scientific finding relying upon induction could only give a probability of an answer being correct, not a black or white yes or no. He reaffirmed the belief that science required a strong hypothesis predicting certain results, derived at through observation, and testing measured results against the predictions. Thomas Kuhn The 1960's saw a complete change in view, with the publication of Thomas Kuhn's work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, in 1962. This work is commonly regarded as the most influential text in the history of the philosophy of science. This blew away the logical positivism and concerns about the scientific method, with Kuhn feeling that the philosophy of science had become bogged down in the minutiae.

Once again, he brought up the idea that the philosophy of science had to look at the history and evolution of science. He did not subscribe to the Aristotelian notion of science as cumulative; instead, Kuhn's greatest contribution to the philosophy of science was the idea of paradigms and paradigm shifts. Feyerabend Feyerabend (1924 - 1994) believed that the scientific method was an artificial construct, and restricted the free thought of ideas. He suggested that very few scientists actually followed any such method, and took a very open view of science, implying that there can never be a strict definition of what constitutes science. This definition may have some credibility, because it is not always apparent what disciplines constitute science. For example, fields such as social science, economics, archaeology and even psychology fall somewhere in-between science and non - science. Feyerabend was a student of Popper, but believed in 'Scientific anarchy,' a principle of anything goes, and that scientists would develop a good method that would work for their particular research field. His landmark book, Against Method, in 1978, coined the phrase epistemological anarchy.

Despite sharing completely different philosophies, Feyerabend and Lakatos were great friends, and both had an effect upon the history of the philosophy of science. Lakatos' idea is often regarded as an ideal, whereas Feyerabend's theory is possibly closer to how scientists actually work, in a type of organized chaos. . The Future of the History of the Philosophy of Science The modern scientific method is built upon the work of all of these great philosophers. Whilst a scientist may believe that they are following the methods of Kuhn or Popper, there is also a tribute to Aristotle, Avicenna or Bacon in their work. Ironically, many scientists have not heard of any of these philosophers and blindly use the scientific method, without realizing how it grew and developed. In terms of the direction of the philosophy of science, the most recent philosophers concentrate upon trying to define the very nature of science, as boundaries between the various fields blur and the amount of poorly constructed pseudoscience and junk science grows exponentially. The history of the philosophy of science is added to daily, and the next revolution in scientific thought may be just around the corner. .

Question: Which 13th century English philosopher and scientist was known as 'Doctor Mirabilis'?
Answer: ROGER BACON